Sextant



May 18, 1937.

SEXTANT Filed May 28, 1935 I l v I al l//-/f/' f GEORGEB--GA INVENT R v l G. B. GALLASCH Er m. 2,080,851'

Patented May 18, 1937 STATES SEXTANT of New York Application May 28, 1935, Serial No. 23,885

d Claims.

The present invention relates to bubble sextants and more particularly to means for adapting said sextants for night use.

One of the objects of the present invention is to provide an improved means for illuminating the bubble of a bubble sextant. Another object is to provide an improved means for recording the sexta-nt reading. A further object is to provide a new form of illuminated marking pad. These and other objects and advantages reside in certain novel features of construction, arrangement and combination 01 parts as will hereinafter be more fully set forth and pointed out in the appended claims.

Referring to the drawing:

Fig. 1 is a perspective View of a sexta-nt embodying this invention.

Fig. 2 is a vertical section of same.

Fig, 3 is a fragmentary sectional view of the marking pad One embodiment of this invention is illustrated in the drawing wherein lil and ii designate spaced supporting plates forming the body of the sextant. Between the plates IS and i! is a telescope i2 comprising lenses i3 and ld. Horizontal light rays are received by the lens E3 and are directed vertically downward by a prism l5 to a prism i6 which directs the light upward to the lens lll. A bubble chamber Il,

enclosed by lenses i8 and I9, is located in the.

vertical portion of the telescope l2 between the prisms I5 and It. The size of the bubble 213 is regulated by the knurled member 2l as is known in the art.

Parallel to the horizontal portion of the telescope l2 is a housing 22 within which is positioned a light source 23. An aperture 24 connects the housing 22 and the telescope tube and a transparent glass reflector 25 is fixed in the telescope tube in alignment with the aperture 24. Thus when viewing the horizon or using the bubble in daylight the glass reflector Z5 permits the passage of suiiicient light to illuminate the bubble. When the light source 23 is used, no adjustment is necessary beyond the switching on of the light.

A transparent index reflector 26 is tiltably mounted between the plates l@ and Il and between the telescope l2 and an observation station 2'? for bringing into coincidence the telescope image and the image of the object to be observed. The observation station 21 comp-rises an apertured plate 28 and an eye shield 29 for directing the sight along the optical axis of the telescope l2. A filter 3B is pivotally mounted on (Cl. 2ML-2) an arm 3i which is, in turn, pivotally mounted on the plate lil. This filter 36 is used when the altitude of a bright source, such as the sun or moon, is to be determined.

A hand grip 32 is xed to the wall l@ and a knurled Wheel 33, adjacent the top` of the grip 32, serves to tilt the index reilector 25 to bring the image of the observed object and the telescope image into coincidence in the usual manner. A registering device til, which is visible through the ywindow 35 in the grip 32, is connected to the mechanism for tilting the index reector 26 and indicates the altitude of the observed object. A housing 35 contains a light source, not shown, for illuminating the registering device.

Adjacent the hand grip 32 and secured to the wall IU is a marking pad 31. This pad 3l comprises a sheet of glass having plane parallel surfaces, the upper one 3l of which is nely ground while the lower surface 3l is silvered. A housing 35 containing a lamp 39 is provided with a slot it of substantially the same height as the thickness of the glass pad 3i. The housing 33 is located so that the light from the lamp 39 enters the edge of the glass pad 3l. In this way the pad '3l is illuminated so that marks on its surface will be visible at night. The light sources are all connected to a battery, not shown, but which may be located within the hand grip 52 and all are under the control of a suitable switch M y From the foregoing it will be apparent that we are able to attain the objects of our invention and provide a new and improved means for adapting a bubble sextant for night use. Various modifications can, of course, be made without departing from the spirit oi our invention or the scope of the appended claims.

We claim:

1. A device of the character described comprising a body, a telescope xed on said body, an index reector adjustably mounted on said body in the path of the light rays from said telescope, a bubble level xed in said telescope, a source of light xed to said body in spaced relation to the telescope axis and a transparent reflector fixed in said telescope on the axis thereof for directing light from said source to said bubble level.

2. In a device of the character described a body, a telescope xedly mounted on said body, an index reflector tiltably mounted on said body in the path of rays from said telescope, a bubble level xed in said telescope, a. source of light xedly mounted on said body and spaced from the optical axis of said telescope, and a transparent reflector xedly mounted in said telescope for directing light from said source along the optical axis of said telescope through said bubble level to said index reflector.

3. A device of the character described comprising a body member, an index reflector tiltably mounted on said body member, a telescope lens mounted on said body member with its axis horizontal, means for directing light from said objective vertically downward, means for directing the light from said rst-named means upward at an angle to said index reflector, a bubble level carried by said body member in the vertical light path between .said two means, a source of light carried by said body member adjacent said lens and a transparent reflectorposi- 20 tioned between said lens and said rst-named means for directing light from said source to said bubble level.

4. A device of the character described comprising a body member, a lens mounted on said member with its axis horizontal, a prism mounted on said body for directing the light from said lens vertically downward, a bubble level mounted below said prism, a second prism mounted below said bubble level for directing the light from said bubble level upward at an angle, a second lens positioned in the path of the light from said second prism, an index reector tiltably mounted in the path of the light from said lens, a source of light mounted on said body member and a transparent `reflector carried by said body for directing light from said source along the light path through said bubble level to said index reflector.

HENRY F. KURTZ. GEORGE B. GALLASCH. 

